President Obama recently hosted a White House meeting to relaunch the legislative process for “comprehensive” immigration reform. Joining the chorus a few days later were several big city police chiefs who urged Congress to bring illegal immigrants out from the shadows.

This push is coming despite the fact that voters don't rank immigration as a priority issue.

Adding to the legislative challenge, there remains a huge gap between most voters and the Political Class on the issue. Sixty-six percent (66%) of likely voters nationwide say it is Very Important for the government to improve its enforcement of the borders and reduce illegal immigration. Just 32% of America’s Political Class agree.

Three-out-of-four voters believe that the federal government is not doing enough to secure the nation’s borders.

The police chiefs who spoke out recently indicated a desire to get local law enforcement out of the immigration business. However, 73% of voters want cops to check the immigration status of all offenders during traffic stops. Sixty-seven percent (67%) also say that if law enforcement officers know of places where immigrants gather to find work, they should sometimes conduct surprise raids to identify and deport those who are here illegally.

On another point, the police chiefs recommended that illegal immigrants should be integrated into the legal system, “possibly with driver’s licenses.” However, 77% of voters nationwide oppose drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants. That topic tripped up Hillary Clinton in a debate during the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona, has taken a different approach and has aggressively enforced immigration laws. While his efforts have prompted a U.S. Justice Department civil rights investigation, the sheriff remains popular in his home state. Most Arizona voters not only support his policies, but 58% say he has been good for the state’s image. On a personal basis, Arpaio is viewed favorably by 68% of Arizona voters.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of voters nationwide say that those who knowingly hire illegal immigrants should be punished. By a 48% to 36% margin, voters say the same about landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.

The biggest point of disconnect between voters and the conventional wisdom in Washington, D.C. has to do with priorities. Almost always in Washington, the debate begins with a focus on how to address the status of illegal immigrants. To voters, that is a secondary concern. Controlling the borders is a top concern. That hasn’t changes since the 2006 immigration legislation collapsed when the U.S. Senate surrendered to public opinion. During that debate, a New York Times/CBS poll found that 69% believed illegal immigrants should be prosecuted and deported.

What is often lost in the shuffle of the debate over immigration reform is that once the borders are controlled, most Americans favor a welcoming immigration policy provided it is done within the law. Republicans are more supportive than Democrats of such a policy. Overall, by a 55% to 27% margin, Americans favor a policy goal that would welcome everyone except criminals, national security threats and welfare dependants.

Also, while nearly a third of Americans are angry about the immigration issue, they are not angry at the immigrants. They are angry at the federal government.

A 2006 Rasmussen Reports summary on the issue noted that the data showed “most Americans recognize that our nation is both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. They want to uphold both aspects of our national heritage. Just as important, they want political leaders to remember the second part of that heritage - that we're a nation of laws.”